Didn't go this year, I was in a wedding in Austin. I could be wrong, but it seems like SFA doesn't give a crap about their football team. They seem to be content with being a "basketball school" and have just given up on football all together. As for our football team, I'm having trouble getting motivated this year. Just seems like we're on an inevitable path to, once again, getting drubbed in the 2nd or 3rd round of the playoffs by a more balanced team. Like we have the last 3 years in a row. We're good every year but I don't know if we'll ever be great.
I get this vibe with SFA as well, and honestly, I'm not sure I wouldn't trade with them, even though I'm more of a college football guy than a college basketball guy. You get far more national publicity from a single win in the NCAA basketball tournament than you could ever get with even an FCS football national title. For better or worse, to a large percentage of sports fans in this country, FCS football just doesn't register and gets thought of as JV football.
Agreed on both fronts. No chance at winning a title with the defense being as bad as it is. Good teams are going to tear us apart (a la Central Ark). Face a top team with even a mediocre offense and we're having to hope we can get just enough stops.
I disagree with the SFA thing. Maybe they don't make it to the BOTPW, but they generally have a higher average attendance than the Kats in Bowers. With the team itself, I am pretty similar. Especially after losing to UCA. You pretty much needed that win to get a good seed (you would have had a #7, #22, and #12 win on your resume). Now with that loss, you'll get a first round home game and then hit the road. Probably playing in cold weather. They did that in 2012, but that was a different Kat team with a different mentality. This team just seems a little soft mentally and not very disciplined. They can prove me wrong, but I'll put all of my "wishing for a championship" efforts into the astros for now.
I generally avoid being the type of guy who nitpicks victories, but a 40-36 home win against now 1-5 Northwestern State doesn't inspire a ton of confidence. I think I'm with the others who have mentioned that this feels like another playoff team that will maybe win a game, but then get eliminated against one of the better teams in the playoff field. I certainly, however, don't think that's enough to even consider moving on from K.C. Keeler as head coach. I hate the idea of getting rid of a coach who has been solidly successful. Too often, that ends in programs immediately suffering if you get the hire wrong. Sure, there's a chance the next guy might be another Willie Fritz, but there's just as big a chance that the next guy is another Todd Whitten. I'd rather the administration hold onto the guy who has continued to do a pretty good job, and figure out, as a program, how to improve things around that head coach. I just think it's far too risky to make a move when the team is still a perennial playoff team.
Shouldn't the head coach be the one figuring out how to improve the things around him? He makes the decisions. Ultimately it just seems like a really undisciplined group. Maybe they're just coasting or playing down to their competition, so they'll play up in big games. I also think its weird (maybe it is a good thing), that one receiver had basically 50% of the reception yards (247 of about 506). Going to that receiver that much in the playoffs will probably backfire.
Maybe they'll do something similar to what the Rockets did with D'Antoni and hire a new defensive coordinator for him.
Up 33-14 on Lamar. Granted, Lamar isn't any good, but at least the Bearkats have jumped out to a commanding lead, which is something they didn't do against Northwestern State last week.
Having to come back against Abeline Christian after blowing a 24-0 lead doesn’t inspire confidence. Still a top 5 team but not anywhere near a championship level defense and one that’s going to mean an early exit from the playoffs again.
Yeah, I think we know what this team is at this point. They can score points in bunches (although Briscoe just simply hasn't been as sharp this season), but the defense just isn't that good, and the team has an incredibly bad habit of letting off the gas when they jump out to leads. It'll be playoffs again, and probably at least one win in the playoffs, but I don't really see a deep run this time around.
Same song, different verse this week against HBU. Jumped out to a big lead and then let off the gas. The 33 points marked the only time HBU has scored more than 17 points all season, so that's a little bothersome. Still, can't gripe too much about a 10-1 season, and a (likely) first-round bye in the playoffs. There will undoubtedly be those calling for Keeler's job if and when the Bearkats are eliminated from the playoffs, but as someone who lived through the Todd Whitten era as a student, I'll take this type of season, even if it comes with a playoff exit, every single time.
Bracket is out. LINK Sixth seed in the bracket, drawing the winner of South Dakota (7-4) and Nicholls State (8-3) in Huntsville at 2 PM on December 2nd. Nicholls is obviously a familiar opponent, and that game earlier this season was probably the most complete game SHSU played. They beat the Colonels 66-17.
I'm glad we're not playing this Saturday when the campus is empty and the attendance would be about 500 people. Always hate having a home game the Saturday after Thanksgiving. Assuming we get to the Quarterfinals, we get Jacksonville State at their place. They destroyed us last time we played, but we beat them the year before that, so who knows. Not real confident about how many points our defense will give up to them, seeing as how HBU just dropped 33 on us. LOL. Even if we win that game, we get James Madison next. James Madison could probably beat half the FBS teams including ut and aTm. May as well just give the trophy to them this year.
Side note...if SHSU can pull this one out, you have to like their chances to get to the semis, likely against NDSU. Kennesaw State upset three-seed Jacksonville State today, and while KSU will clearly provide a stiff challenge, the fact that they run a triple-option offense helps. The defensive breakdowns for Sam this seasons have often been in coverage, and with KSU's offense, you aren't going to get as many shots downfield.
Can the SHSU athletic department please replace that faded track and field banner on the left side of the end zone facility? It's not even remotely orange anymore. I know they're not exactly flush with cash, but that can't be that expensive to replace.
SHSU catches a break that the South Dakota receiver drops a first-down pass on 4th-and-1. Still probably would have held on to win had he caught it, but this way is much less stressful.
